Transcript Brown Butterflies - the Community-Based Service

Brown Butterflies
A poem
By Rebecca Isbell
I am finally breaking out of
the cocoon that I have
created for myself for weeks
long.
I know that I am a little
behind,
But I was never diagnosed.
Others broke out days ago.
As a caterpillars, I knew inside
something was wrong.
Still I went through everything
that future butterflies do.
I went through the same
lifecycle:
Egg to caterpillar to cocoon to
butterfly
I tried to eat the same leaves
and eat the same way.
I ate the square leaves , while
the other caterpillars ate the
round leaves.
I swallowed the square leaves.
However, the other
caterpillars chewed them.
When I broke out,
there is an inner glow that I
felt.
It only last until someone
called me a moth.
They told me that I have
brown wings.
I saw myself as a moth.
Someone who is dark and
ugly.
I began being placed in
groups of other “moths.”
Maybe, I should have not
gave up on chewing the
round leaves.
When I was by the water
with the other “moths,” I
saw our reflections.
I had the antennas like a
butterfly.
Other “moths” had the
colors and wings.
We were all butterflies.
We then ask the butterflies if
we could migrate with them.
They first said no because we
weren’t butterflies on the
outside.
I told them to take a closer
look.
We are all butterflies on the
inside.
Today, I take pride in being a
brown butterfly.
I let myself lay on the
prettiest of all flowers and
drink the sweetest nectar.
We may have a broken wing,
different color, or a different
behavior,
But we are all butterflies.